The Other Woman

And by that I mean my new design blog. Got you there for a moment, didn't I?
Yes, I have, after a lot of deliberation, started the other blog namely http://dfordezine.wordpress.com. She is the reason this blog has been receiving the first wife treatment. I suck at updating one, let alone two, blogs. Only time will tell how all of this will work out. But if you are a design freak like I am I do hope to see you there as well :)
Hope to be back with more, until then, so long!

A little less of me to love...

A pregnancy, three years, thirty bloody pounds, a closet full of fat pants, some obnoxious cellulite, a group of berzerk homones and a perpetual diet attempt later, I have decided to jump start my efforts at becoming a little less of me by going viral. Although "viral" is probably too strong a word in my case. It wasn't an easy decision, mind you. It comes with its gliches. I will have to grow immune to the dreaded "Soooooo; how's the whole weight loss thing coming along (snicker, snicker)?" question, that's bound to hit me at every party. And learn to deal with that constant "what if I fail after all this hype?" voice in my head - (worst place to be in, trust me). But, I plan to take one day at a time.

To begin with, I will be going on a juice cleanse diet for a week (baby steps). I find this is essential to shock my body which has now grown used to a somewhat perpetual low carb diet.
I shall treat this like a journal and shall record the entire process, including my "cheat" moments (if there are any). Feel free to join me in my journey. Please make sure you consult with your physician before you decide to do so.

I will need:

• A juicer (you could use your blender and strain the juice, but I find that cumbersome).
• To load up on fresh veggies and fruits. I prefer shopping at the local farmers market (Stiles- on Oakland Park Blvd). Yes, veggies, you will be juicing them too.
• To ease into the diet by eating as many raw veggies and fruits with whole grain. That way it will be less of an adjustment for the body.*

*The following website is where I found all my info regarding the juice cleanse diet process: http://www.justcleansing.com/juicefasting.htm

Once I am done preparing for the cleanse, hopefully today, I shall begin by recording Day 1 on this blog. Until then, so long.

A man, a blue bike and two pigtails in Love-in-Tokyos

As rewarding as motherhood can be, I have my moments.
Moments when all I could care about is to hand over the job of entertaining my little one to my husband and have nothing at all to do with the kid for a while.
On one such occasion, I left the father daughter duo unto themselves as I did my thing.
What started off with blocks, and went on to the tea set, eventually turned into a wrestling match of sorts which caught my divided attention for just a bit. Here's how it all went. As daddy sat down, firmly grounded (or so he made it seem), daughty, standing in front of him, would  push daddy with all her might  till he fell back onto the ground. Quite simple, really.
I sat there watching my husband resist her initial attempts to take him down, in order to convince the little one of the magnitude of the feat he was about to let her accomplish. He would then give in to her herculean strength and fall back, defeated, secretly rejoicing at the peel of laughter she would let out after every victory.
Yes, it was happening all over again......
A good twenty five years ago, on a quiet, moon lit spring night, a man, a blue bike and two pigtails (in love-in-Tokyos) went through the exact same set of emotions.
Amma had just had the baby and  was at home, resting. It had been this way for a few months now.
Appa and I would go to Ammamma's house for dinner and bring back food for Amma, which meant we would get to ride the bike (yay!) since it was just the two of us.
That night, as we got ready for our ride back home together, Appa said " Bubblyappan, Nee bike e ottariya?" as the pigtails (in love-in-Tokyos) nodded a... puzzled yes.

Appa's strong arms picked me up to safely seat me atop the petrol tank of the bike, all snuggled up against his solar plexus. He then urged me to hold on to the handles of the bike. Just as those hesitant little hands tightened their grip around the cold metal some where mid-span, as they weren't long enough to reach the black, spiky, rubbery ends Appa held on to, the bike zoomed out onto a very quite road. And the wind blew those pigtails... this way and that!
Then, clearly sensing the make  believe-"ness" of it all, I said "but Appa, you are riding the bike, not me". Completely aware of my secret hope, he asked me to push at the handle a little harder. And I did, with all my might. Then, as if by magic, the bike went faster. I repeated the action a couple of times, just to make sure and oddly enough, the bike responded, every single time!!
The pair of eyes that shone bright with glee in the darkness of the night,  in a fleeting moment of doubt, glanced over at Appa's hands to see if it was him after all. As if on cue, he let one hand effortlessly slide off of the handle. "Yes! " I remember thinking, exhilarated...."It is me after all!"
I let out an excited peel of laughter, as the wind blew those pigtails this way and that!
My first ever make-believe yet "Oh! so real" bike ride, that made me in some small way believe in myself a little more. And after all those years it was happening all over again...

If Walls Could Speak........

 

There is something mesmerizing about a blank wall.
All the more so if it happens to be an accent wall, aloof from the other run of the mill ones that safely merge with their perpendicular friends to form a boring corner.
"I can carry off a bold shade of red with utmost ease, but don't you dare push it!; it warns when you try to hang a piece of unnecessary art off of it. "I am art" the snob quips.
Come wall decals, and it's a whole other story! The snob all weak kneed tries hard to maintain decorum....."Ahem, Ahem!".

An accent wall with the right decal - "A sight for sore eyes!"
The key word here is "right",  for in the decal world, it's a thin line that separates classy from corny.
If you didn't already know, Wall Decals are vinyl stickers that go up on the wall  directly.
Hmmm...I know what you're thinking...don't you worry, they come off clean. If that doesn't convince you enough, may I add that "They Are In". Fine! I agree that was a bit of a stretch, but how about this one -"It won't break your bank!" (Look for group coupon / deal of the day websites).
Oh! And they are pretty :)
And  since a picture is worth a thousand words, I shall let them do the talking...

A great way to add a touch of  "baroque" ( yes, baroque is back) to your interiors:

 

Source: http://www.designbabylon-interiors.com/blog

For those of you that harbor a fascination for cityscapes, "I hear ya!"...                                                                                                                               

  

Source: www.etsy.com/search?q=city+wall+decal&page=1&ref=related 

  

Told ya! The snob caved in.......                                                                                                             

                  Source : http://themodernmom.net/?paged=6

                  Happy "Decal-ing" people!

A little bit of this.....A little bit of that .........

Its been a terribly, terribly long time since I penned anything down, well, not technically, I did have a couple o' "I don't care who reads this, I'm gonna say forbidden things" moments that safely got stowed away as drafts......
And since filling in on the gaps seems painfully tedious at this hour when I'm surprisingly chirpy in temperament, I'm going to tell you about this other blog I meandered into....
http://frenchbydesign.blogspot.com
About which I have three words to say " Oh! so refreshing!". Despite all of that training I received to make things look beautiful, I still harbor a deep fear of making myriad different things work well together beautifully. My right brain isn't yet all that at ease with stretching its limbs beyond clean lines..... and for that very reason I heart the eclecticism this blog so effortlessly features ........

All the more so, since I've been attempting to make my family room more.....er.. "familial" shall we say, .... by covering up in crisp linen (since I'm going for the summer chic feel n all), the ugly, taupe micro fiber monstrosity that  has turned itself and endearingly so, into the one thing that shall silently endure anything that is spewed upon it, right from gray sooty foot prints, to blotches of apparently washable paint, to smidgens of pro-biotic yogurt........ and also, am FINALLY trying to put together a frame collage of art that I now have manned up to try my hand at.....thanks to a friend that inspired me with her version of it and a good one, I must say.
The results shall be posted for your viewing, if it all turns out well, that is......
So long, until then ........